By Mike Rednap, financial analyst
The political establishment of Old Europe is sounding the alarm! London, Berlin, Paris and Amsterdam are making loud statements in eager rivalry proving and showing danger, which approaches the Old World with admission of Romania and Bulgaria in Schengen since Jan. 1 2014.
Pan-European debate on immigration is now in high gear! Debate is running in a context of uncontrollable growth of labor migration from Romania and Bulgaria in the Schengen-countries. In March of current year ministers from leading EU countries addressed the letter to European Commission where they have made the rigid demands to put an end to free movement in Schengen seekers of “social preferences”, namely to stop “benefit tourism”.
It’s so natural that according to EU-membership citizens of these under-developed countries have the right to work and study in all Schengen Area and accordingly to receive “social welfare”. But! To work and study not everyone wants, and to receive bonuses everyone desires. Here also there is a situation when funds from budget of one country (in the most cases it’s Germany or Britain) go on social support of other countries’ citizens (in the most cases it’s either Romanians or Bulgarians)!
In Great Britain the mood is particularly tense: with the joining free trade area the temporary Dutch and UK ban on Romanian and Bulgarian workers will lose the force. The British politicians are disturbed outright by a new wave of mass migration and actively try to defend their position.
“We’re not tough enough right now about people coming from the other side of the world who decide to use our health service,” Prime Minister David Cameron has recently stated. “They haven’t contributed in their taxes. They should pay when they use the NHS, the National Health System.” “So here we stand, staring blankly at the oncoming train, but ? utterly impotent, frozen in the headlamps, waiting for the crash in January.” And British Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith has thundered against other Europeans who “use the free movement rules just to travel around, looking for the best benefits they can get.” For today, according to population census 2.5 million citizens of other EU member states live in Great Britain.
Cameron has already announced his intention to cap social services for immigrants to Britain from other EU countries. A high-ranking working group at 10 Downing Street is currently working on proposals to make this happen. The idea to toughen migratory measures for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens also was first raised by Philip Hollobone, the Conservative MP for Kettering and the immigration minister Mark Harper has actively supported it. Other politicians don’t stand aloof also: Home Secretary Theresa May has repeatedly made comments on this situation as menacing to internal stability and public safety.
In its fears for economic future and social safety of country Great Britain is not lonely. France suffering from mass unemployment is also in a shock after adopting by Socialist Party government of President Francois Hollande regulations to expand the number of fields in which Romanians and Bulgarians are permitted to work within the country, from 150 to 291, Marine Le Pen of the Front National (FN) stated. Today in Europe there are 26 million out of work, 8 from which young people.
Meanwhile in Germany not only top politicians also municipalities sound alarm. Last month the German Association of Cities published the report where it was accurately specified that municipalities cannot overcome swift growing wave of immigration on their own. Association President Christian Ude is calling for additional financial support from the federal government.
Can such mass and substantiated statements of powerful politicians really be groundless? Or is it the case when behind impetuous stream of warning and indignations of competent and responsible national policy-makers the silence of EU officials is hided, which concerns real actions on correction of situation? Even ordinary citizens are of the opinion that the European Commission should be able to pay more intently attention to beliefs and feelings of people in all EU countries, instead of simply accurate and methodical to pursue the scheme. What is that – fundamental position to beat about the bush striving the only aim to extend the EU?
So, European Commission vice-president Viviane Reding has proposed to extend EU nationals’ welfare rights not paying attention to warning about «benefit tourism». On 8 May 2013 Mrs. Reading has loudly declared that no EU member state has provided the commission with real facts about the existing threat! Probably Viviane Reding does not understand the real degree of approaching danger and therefore she simply does not want to hear the policy-makers who try so furiously to protect home security and stability!
The threat consists in that the immigration stream flooding Europe will pour first of all not from Romania and Bulgaria but from the countries adjoining on them. It’s no secret the new Romanian national policy, and all know about mass Romanian issuing passports in the former Soviet Union countries, in particular, poorest Moldova and Ukraine, but nobody considers it as a problem!
Romania is country in great distress of education system and public health services, in the municipal and benevolent institutions but it tries to strengthen not due to qualitative advantage but due to quantitative one. Every year Romania distributes more and more tactlessly the Romanian passports, moreover it fixes this provision in constitution! Last amendment to the law “on granting help for Romanians abroad” has been adopted on 8 May where all representatives of the Romanian linguistic and cultural identity are proclaimed Romanians!
That fact made revolted even Romanians! The Romanian policy-maker from Liberal Democratic Party Costica Canacheu is outraged: “Romanians ware 22 million but now 30. I protests because the law adopted by Bucharest contradicts absolutely to all European standards, the Council of Europe principles and human rights conventions which have been signed by our country”.
The feature of modern Romanian policy is that Romanian authorities try to take care not only of those citizens who consider itself Romanians by birth, but of the representatives of other nations! “All of them regard the Romanian passport as the key to the EU,” according to Marian Gherman, a Bucharest prosecutor whose office has investigated a network of touts and bureaucrats who were expediting citizenship applications for money. “Everybody knows it,” he said. “They ask for Romanian citizenship only because it gives them the freedom to travel and work within the EU.”
The European Fund for Investigative Journalism has also interested this problem and spent its independent investigation. Not looking at all assurances of Romanian officials that each demand for citizenship is carefully studied and there is no deceit completely, all facts cry the contrary. “Give me Moldavian, Ukrainian, Russian, everybody – and I will make of them Romanian”! It’s the slogan under which well adjusted network of firms and Internet sites works trading Romanian passports and supplying Eurozone with seekers of “benefit tourism”. They suck the European funds and are not going to give anything in exchange. For such preferences it’s worthily to pay 2500-3000 EUR.
The question is that: within the limits of the Romanian national policy this illegal activity breaking all European laws lives very harmoniously! The main thing is that such situation suits Romania and its reckless politicians because population increases in geometrical progression!
Probably, it’s the main problem of the European establishment and first of all it’s necessary to pay attention to it. It is needed urgently to calm down this revolted woman-Romania and to fit it with as strait-jacket even more rigorous sanctions and measures. In different case Europe is flooded with the semiliterate poor men seeking for profits, and not always lawfully. Here it’s time to think about worsening criminogenic situation!
Europe has formulated challenges and threats accurately enough which EU authorities must answer. There are challenges but there are no answers!
To my mind, with such glaring violations of spirit and letter not only of the European laws, but also sometimes territorial integrity of some countries, Romania must wait for joining Schengen a long time!